Abstract
Two hose-pumps, produced from reinforced rubber hoses, have been incorporated in the IPS buoy system to form the central part of the power take off system of the AquaBuOY. As part of the AquaBuOY development program, the performance of the hose-pumps has been verified through dynamic testing. The paper presents the theory behind the hose-pump, explains the working principles and presents experimental results from static and dynamic testing compared to theoretical predictions. A number of scale hose-pump samples were built and tested in a test rig to characterize the hose-pump performance, to determine and verify its operational conversion efficiency and to validate the expected life cycle. The measured data has been used to validate hose-pump numerical models and to compare its operation to the test results from testing performed in Sweden in the beginning of the 1980’s. The present experimental results have confirmed the theoretical relations for a number of different angles of hose-pump reinforcement under static and dynamic performance conditions. The basic theory is shown to be in good agreement with test results. Dynamic testing has validated the conversion efficiency to be in the 70-80% range.